I now take away the title of best pempek on earth from Pempek Sriwijaya of Sidoarjo. It is located on Duryat Street, and I will not eat there in the near time.

Indonesia's inflation has taken its toll on this place. Before that, they gave two jar of vinegar -one is hot and spicy, one is sweet- for each customer ordering pempek(s), to have as much as desired with their pempeks. After money is tight, they dilute the vinegars with water! Unacceptable!

Later because of many people protesting, they changed their policy by pouring those vinegars directly on customers' plates, so bye-bye vinegar jars, bye-bye can take as much vinegar as desired.

I mean the price they charge for pempek is already not cheap, why insists on treating customers this way?

I was overdrinking tea. While wooing Hanako, that is. Imagine, on the day of festival she was hiding in the library. Then the character I played offered her to drink tea together in one of the empty classrooms at school. After some time passed, her friend appeared and together the three of them went to a cafe called Shanghai to drink... tea. Again.

Weren't they afraid they all were going to die from tein poisoning or something like that?

Unlike clipping nails in public, in my country spitting in public is widely shunned by society, but even so, a few months ago I saw a shopkeeper of a shopping mall spat on the path I was about to take. And she even had the audacity to try attracting me to visit her shop!

This shopping mall is called ITC and located in Surabaya. Despite having air conditioners on all floors, some visitors and merchants are freely smoking.

Okay not some. Only a little number, minority. And not freely, at least the merchants are doing it secretly, squatting behind low counters or high shelves. But the smell of cigarettes can go a long way toward other visitors who hates it, don't you think?

That makes me wonder, when will Indonesia have these too? A rule that guides places where ordinary people can sit and enjoy whatever can be afforded by their medium-wage, be it parfait, dinner, or a movie over weekend without having to tolerate other people's childen running around, throwing tantrums, screaming at the top of their tiny lungs with their parents are around doing nothing?

But not always. Lately I've been asked for alms by a beggar repeatedly. Her 'working route' passed my bus stop. She always asked me for money in Javanese's lowest dialect.

A few hundred years ago, Javanese people were Hindu people. I think the dialects was invented at that time. You know, caste system, people from caste A can only speak in certain dialect toward people from caste B, while people from caste B must respond in another dialect, things like that. Although Hinduism has long subsided in Java island, its application in Javanese language dialects still exists until now. People may not speak with their elders using Javanese lowest dialect, employee may not speak to their employer using that dialect, because it is disrespectful. Even people avoid using that dialect toward other people from lower social status if they've just known each other for a brief time!

I don't know whether she only knew that dialect in Javanese language and didn't know any other languages, but given that she lived in Java island of Indonesia, I think that's highly unlikely. Her fellow beggars, if they could not use better dialect, always used Indonesian language, or stayed silent and asked for money using hand gesture. If you were me, would you have qualms for not giving alms to her?